Thursday, 26 September 2013

There
is a dastardly plot afoot. It involves crooked trainers, bent bookmakers and
dishonest stable staff – and the whole conspiracy has been revealed as a result
of an incident at Cartmel Racecourse. I
have been dipping into my collection of Dick Francis novels again, having been
reminded of the Cartmel story-line by a member of the village’s Agricultural
Show Committee. It’s surprising how many Dick Francis aficionados are out
there; but with forty international best sellers to choose from, it isn’t
difficult to pick up the habit. For
Kicks is the third best novel in the Francis canon (my favourite is Dead Cert,
which should be the starting point for any new readers). The story revolves
around a disreputable bunch of ne’er-do-wells who encourage horses to run
faster by way of a pavlovian response to a ‘silent’ dog whistle. The crooks’
plans start to unfold when one of their horses is unintentionally stimulated by
the hound-trails at Cartmel races. Which reminds me – we have missed the hound
trailers at Cartmel this year. Hounds
have long shared the headlines with horses at Cartmel and we have clippings of
newspaper reports on the office wall dating from 1932. Hound trailing involves
the laying of a scent using a mixture of paraffin and aniseed oil, which is
then followed by the hounds during a race. As the hounds near the finish, their
owners shout, cheer and blow whistles for all they are worth. I don’t know what
the prize money is like, but I’ve seen money changing hands with bookmakers –
so the competition has a serious edge to it. While
the proper races take place over long courses of moorland, fields and fells,
the race-day versions involve a lap of the track and are much shorter but
no-less exciting. We’ll get the hounds back at Cartmel in 2014 and I hope you
might come to see them then. In the meantime, why not buy a second-hand copy of
For Kicks (£2.80 on Amazon) and settle down for a good evening’s read next to
the fireplace. If
you’re feeling flush, perhaps you’ll invest in the Dick Francis Omnibus (three
books: Dead Cert, Nerve and For Kicks) for £16.85. I think a small each way
investment, at 25/1, on Fury in the Cambridgeshire Handicap on Saturday might
help us fund the purchase.

Thursday, 19 September 2013

This
week I’ve had at least a dozen phone calls from people wanting to know whether
the 2014 fixture list has been published yet. It seems that they are trying to
book their accommodation for next year’s races and some of the local hotels are
already filling up! I’m
often asked why Cartmel doesn’t have more fixtures and whether we couldn’t
simply schedule a few extra. Unfortunately, the fixture process, which is
administered by the British Horseracing Authority, isn’t quite so simple and
Cartmel is obliged to fit into an annual programme of events alongside
fifty-seven other racecourses. History plays a part with major meetings such as
the Cheltenham Festival and the Epsom Derby taking place at the same time every
year. Over
time, each racecourse has built up a number of fixtures which it can consider
to be its own – and these have been recognised by the BHA as ‘Racecourse
Fixtures’. Historically, racing at Cartmel centred on just two weekends, the
Whitsun Holiday in May and the Bank Holiday in August; as a result Cartmel has
just five recognised Racecourse Fixtures, the smallest number of any track in
Britain. In
order to increase the number of days on which we have raced in recent years,
Cartmel has succeeded in bidding for additional fixtures which are sanctioned
by the BHA – although these have to be funded to a greater degree by the
racecourse, with little or no funding available from central industry sources.
We’ll be making the final round of applications for the 2014 fixture list this
week and I hope that we’ll be able to announce the results early in October. Under
current fixture policies, a newly-built racecourse would be treated slightly
differently to Cartmel. A new racecourse could be allocated two or three times
as many fixtures as Cartmel on a temporary basis, while being allowed to
convert these fixtures to Racecourse Fixtures over a period of years. The
disparity appears to be anti-competitive and I am hoping that, one day soon,
with cooperation from the rest of the racing industry, we’ll be able to give
Cartmel customers greater certainty over our race-dates from year to year. In
the meantime, while you’re waiting for the fixture list to be published, why
not book in to one of our local hotels for an Autumn break? I’m going to
recommend three of our race sponsors, each of whom contribute all-important
prize money to our fixtures. The Cartmel Priory Hotel is on our door-step and
very comfortable. The Swan Hotel & Spa, at Newby Bridge, is one of the most
popular destinations on this peninsula. Meanwhile, I visited the Miller Howe a
couple of weeks ago – following in the footsteps of Her Majesty The Queen and
The Princess Royal during July – and enjoyed the best meal I have had in
several years. Pay for a visit, to any of the above, with your winnings from Jack
Dexter in Saturday’s Ayr Gold Cup.

Thursday, 12 September 2013

Three of the
eleven entries for Saturday's St Leger will travel to Doncaster from Ireland,
while the other eight will come from locations all over Britain. One thing is for sure -
all of them will arrive at the track in a horsebox, a method of transport
invented, 177 years ago this week, by Lord George Bentinck.During the
first part of the 20th Century racehorses were commonly transported to the
races by train; before then they were usually ridden, sometimes taking weeks to
complete their journey. So it is easy to understand why 'Elis', the
ante-post favourite for the St Leger since the Autumn of 1835, started to drift
in the betting market when journalists reported that three year old colt hadn't
moved from his field in Hampshire - despite the fact that the final classic of
the season was just a few days away. Elis won five
out of his six runs as a two-year-old, establishing himself as one of the
favourites for the 2000 Guineas in 1836. Lord Bentinck backed him accordingly
but reportedly lost a fortune when he was narrowly beaten by 'Bay Middleton' in a
tight finish. The
owner needed to land a major gamble in the St Leger to recover his losses, but
the short prices being quoted by bookmakers were inhibiting his plans. Lord Bentinck
hatched a plot - worthy of a Miss Marple mystery - to transport Elis inside a padded trailer. The trailer would be drawn
by a team of six post-horses, with the aim of sparing the colt's energy and completing the
journey in record time. The post-horses would be changed at various stages on
the 204-mile journey from Nether Wallop (which incidentally featured as St Mary Mead in the TV adaption of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple stories) and there would even be time for an
exercise gallop at Lichfield on the way. With a week
to go to the big race, in the absence of any sign that Elis was likely to reach
Doncaster, the bookmakers promoted the beautifully-named 'Scroggins' to 6/4
favouritism. Elis was easy to back and the conspirators began placing their
bets. Elis completed the journey in just three days and eventually started the
7/2 second favourite. He travelled as easily in the race as he did in the new horsebox,
taking up the running after half-way and pulling clear of his field to beat
Scroggins. He is believed to have landed his owner £24,000 - a small fortune in
1836. Two of this year's field will be travelling from
Hampshire - Talent and Havanna Beat. Of the two, I prefer the Oaks winner,
Talent. However, her finishing time at Epsom was 3 seconds slower than
the colts in the Derby - in which Libertarian and Galileo Rock finished a
staying on second and third. Talent will carry 3lbs less than the colts at Doncaster and I fancy all three - put them in any order
to finish first second and third in a tote-tricast.

Wednesday, 4 September 2013

It’s the first week of September and
there’s still a smattering of good Flat racing to look forward to including the
St Leger, the Prix De L’Arc de Triomphe in France and the Breeders Cup Races in
America. The St Leger, which will be staged at
Doncaster in just over a week’s time, is the oldest of the Classics and happens
to be my favourite – being the one that takes place over the longest distance
(one mile and six furlongs). If the Derby has long been recognised as a means
of selecting the pick of the next stallion crop, the St Leger has become
unfashionable by comparison. The winner is assumed to possess stamina instead
of speed; while the latter has become the Holy Grail for breeders, the former
has become a dirty word - although frankly I think it would be lovely to own a
horse that possessed either. When, like me, your favoured form of
racing involves obstacles and a minimum distance of 2 miles, the St Leger
begins to look like a more interesting race. And talking of Jump Racing, this
week’s news headlines have signalled a seasonal change in the fickle minds of
racing enthusiasts: there have been as many stories about top 2 mile chasers as
there have been about Group 1 Flat horses – a sure sign that Winter is on its
way. Firstly, we paused to mark the passing
of Direct Route at the age of 22. The Howard Johnson trained bay, long retired,
won 15 of his 40 starts but is best remembered for finishing second in the 2000
Queen Mother Champion Chase by the shortest of nostrils in one of the most epic
finishes in living memory. Over in Ireland, no one’s telling who
will be training Ireland’s top 2–miler Flemenstar; rumours are rife that he
could be heading to Tony Martin’s resurgent yard, where no doubt he’d become a
popular bet to recover from the mild disappointments of last season after which
he reportedly became quite poorly. Meanwhile, according to Nicky
Henderson, Sprinter Sacre (the best 2 mile chaser you, I, our children or our
children’s children are ever likely to see) will not be entered for the 3-mile
King George VI Steeplechase at Kempton in December. This shouldn’t surprise us
a great deal, but it will disappoint those that have backed him as the 6/4
ante-post favourite. In further shock-news, Henderson warned
that his Gold Cup winner Bobsworth is also unlikely to line up for the
Christmas feature; favouring, as he does, left handed tracks. No tips for this
weekend’s racing – instead I’m going to suggest a long range punt on the Irish
trained First Lieutenant to claim the King George VI Chase at 25/1 with Boyle
Sports. That’ll keep us warm over the coming weeks.

About the Author

Jonathan has made a career out of being a racing geek - having spent time running The Sun newspaper's "Punters Club", the (long departed) Sporting Life's Green-card Service, Worcester Racecourse, Fontwell Park, Scottish Racing Marketing Ltd and now the iconic Cartmel Racecourse.

In his spare time he likes to study form and go to the races.

All opinions, recommendations or forecasts, expressed or implied within the blog or website, are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice.

Users are solely responsible for any consequences resulting from acting on information included in the blog or on the website. Neither Jonathan Garratt nor Cartmel Racecourse is in anyway liable for any direct, indirect or consequential loss, damage or expense incurred by readers or users of the blog or website.

Where applicable, independent financial advice should be obtained. Past results are not in any way a guarantee of future success.